Region centers: Kaluga

Kaluga is a city in central Russia, administrative center of Kaluga Region. Kaluga region is situated in the centre of the European part of Russia and is a part of the Central Federal District. It borders Moscow region in the north, Bryansk and Oryol regions in the south, Smolensk region in the west and Tula region in the east. Kaluga region covers 30 thousand sq. km. There are 45 municipal districts, 19 towns, 11 urban settlements and 3228 rural settlements in the region. The population of the region is 1040,9 thousand people.

Kaluga is the biggest city in the region, it’s administrative center. It lies on the picturesque banks of the Oka river, 190 km south-west from Moscow. Population of the city is 336,800 people. Urban population is concentrated mainly in large industrial centers of Kaluga, Obninsk, Kirov, Lyudinovo.

Climate

The region has moderately hot and wet summer and rather cold winter. Average annual temperature is +4°C. Average temperature in July is +17,5 °C in the north of the region and +18,5 °C in the south. Average temperature in January is - 9°C in the southwest and - 10°C in the northeast of the region. West winds (both northwest and southwest) dominate in the region. The region landscape is hilly and densely cut with rivers’ valleys.

Economy

Kaluga region is developing it’s industries, science, agriculture and trade. The central, northeast and southwest districts of Kaluga region are the most economically advanced.The agriculture of Kaluga region has no strong specialization. Plant growing and cattle breeding make 53 percent and 47 percent of the agriculture respectively. The climate is favorable for natural vegetation growth, cultivation of cereals, potatoes, vegetables and some technical crops.

Small business is also growing in Kaluga. It gives work to almost 110 thousands people. The greatest amount of small enterprises is in trade and public catering (31,8 percent from the total number of small enterprises), industry (20,3 percent) and construction (15,7 percent). 65 percent of those working in the regional economy are engaged in public sector.Presently, there are positive tendencies in the economy of Kaluga — growth of industrial production, increase of investment volume and income, growth of the consumer market volume.

Transportation

The main roads Moscow-Kiev and Moscow-Yaroslavl cross the region. Moscow-Kaluga-Kiev-Lvov railroad runs from north-east to south-west along the Kaluga region's territory and connects Russia with Ukraine and Moldova. The main road Bryansk-Kirov-Vyazma-Rzhev connects Ukraine with north-west part of Russia leaving aside Moscow. In the limits of the region these roads accept the greater part of passenger and freight traffic.

Culture

The museums of Kaluga are situated in the beautiful ancient detached houses, which are valuable architectural monuments. Regional Museum of Local Lore has unique collections of the archeological artefacts, acient weapons and Russian porcelain. Rich collection of the painings of Russian and western artists is presented in the Art Museum.

The Korobov Palates are the rare monument of civil architecture. The Stone Bridge built by the first Kaluga architecture P.R.Nikitin in 1777-1778 is also unique. Near Kremenki small village, which is situated close to the border with Moscow region, one can see a great monument and the Eternal Fire marking the border which had not been overtaken by fascists. From this place the war changed its direction.

On June 13, 1961 cosmanaut Yury Gagarin had placed the first symbolic stone in the foundation of the future Museum of the History of Cosmonautics, which had been opened in 1967. Now all cosmonauts going back from the flights visit the city.

Kaluga region is known for its scientist, writers and artists. The famous mathematician Chebishev, the first woman-president of the Russian Academy of Science E.R.Dashkova, Admiral D.N.Senyavin lived in Kaluga region. The city’s most famous resident is Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a rocket science pioneer who worked here as a school teacher. There is a Tsiolkovskiy Museum in Kaluga dedicated to his theoretical achievements and their practical implementations in modern space research.Kaluga is known for its large network of the scientific institutions (scientific and research institutes, laboratories, designers bureaus).